Along came a spider, on Queen Elizabeth's coffin, right during the funeral!
Queen Elizabeth's demise led to emotional outpouring for some, for some others it was a hark back to the colonial times when Britain ruled half the world. To be fair, Queen Elizabeth took the throne when many of the 'crown jewel' colonies had shrugged off British rule. But the sheer epochal value of news of Queen's demise made many connect her identity to colonial Britain, which for many, was a monster spreading its tentacles around the world.
Some tentacles prevailed however, not figuratively but very literally. As the world looked at the majestic British crown kept on the Queen coffin on the day of her funeral, a spider appeared to crawl happily next to the very headgear worn by once most powerful people on Earth.
The spider did not ascend the crown. However, its spider-sense tingled enough to make it crawl across note from King Charles to his mother. The note was kept on top of the coffin just beside the crown.
The Queen's coffin was in Westminster Abbey when the spider was spotted. It is not known whether there was anyone on standby to shoo random critters away from Her Majesty's coffin. Was that why nobody dutifully raced ahead to remove the arachnid? We'd never know.
The appearance of the spider was surely a tongue-in-cheek moment in a solemn ceremony which was scripted, practiced well to the very last detail.
Perhaps thousand-year-old Westminster Abbey needed a little more vacuuming!